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The Mexican government sets up a mobile consulate office twice a year in Vermont to help its citizens renew passports and to provide other services. Photo by John Dillon for VPR

A little bit of Mexico came to Middlebury, Vermont last weekend. Officials from the Mexican government were in town to help its citizens renew passports or obtain other documents.

This year’s event came at a time of increasing tension for Mexicans in Vermont.

Twice a year – in summer and early winter – the Mexican government sets up a mobile consulate office in Vermont. The winter session is held in Middlebury. And this past Saturday, dozens of farmworkers waited patiently for their names to be called for passport photos and new IDs.

Graciela Gómez García is the acting consul general of Mexico in Boston. She took a break Saturday from processing documents to talk about the consulate visit.

The office usually sees about 200 people at the daylong event, Gómez García said — but not all come for official business. They also come to socialize and share a meal of takeout pizza and home-cooked tamales.

“In many occasions it is families,” Gómez García said. “Maybe not every person is getting a document. But there is a feeling of home.”